May 2009 - Caribbean Compass

MAY 2009 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 6
— Continued from previous page
Eight Bells
NEVILLE BAILEY
Early March saw the death of Neville Bailey, who
was for many years one of the main taxi drivers for the
yachting community in Antigua. Neville was the brother
of Oliver Bailey and racing yachtsman Hugh Bailey
of the Catamaran Marina, and is survived by his wife,
Doris, other family members and many friends.
SIR HOWARD HULFORD
Cary Byerley reports: On March 9th, Sir Howard
Hulford, co-founder of Antigua Sailing Week, passed
away. In 1967 Howard Hulford and Desmond
Nicholson were discussing ways of keeping the very
short tourist season going in Antigua. The idea came
up that they should have a regatta, and the next year
Antigua Sailing Week was started. Desmond took care
of the racing side of the regatta with the help of Peter
Deeth, and Howard handled the shoreside activities
and finances with the help of Ed Sheerin. Antigua
Sailing Week soon became a “must do” regatta and
brought many people to the island just to watch and
party with the “in crowd”.
Howard, owner of the Curtain Bluff Hotel, was an
active member of the Antigua Hotel Association and
was named Caribbean Hotelier of the Year in 1979.
One of his greatest contributions to Antigua was the
Old Road Fund, which he started to help people in
need from the village that surrounds Curtain Bluff
Hotel. The fund eventually disbursed $1 million on
medical care and education, provided 45 young
adults with a full university education, and sent 150
children to tennis camps in the United States.
PAUL VAN BEEK
On March 17th, long-time yacht skipper Paul “Piggy”
van Beek passed away. Born in the UK, Paul was very
much part of the sailing community in Antigua for the
past three decades.
ANDREW BURKE
Dick Stoute reports: Famous Caribbean yachtsman
Andrew Burke died on April 5th in Bayview Clinic,
Barbados. He had a long fight with cancer, losing his
left arm and shoulder to the disease several years ago
and fighting on as the cancer reappeared in different
parts of his body. Last year he sailed around Barbados
— literally single-handed — to raise money for the
Barbados Cancer Society. We will all miss him.
Compass correspondent in Barbados, Norman Faria,
adds: Aside from his skills in winning at many local and
regional regattas since he started sailing as a boy,
Andrew was a well-respected yacht designer.
I first met him as a teenager when I was converting a
GP-14 plywood sloop. He was walking by on the
beach and he gave a few tips. Over the years we
would meet up occasionally, including him inviting me
to the official launch of his racing yacht Countdown.
This was at his parents’ house on Chelsea Road a few
hundred metres from the “Burke’s Beach” area on
Carlisle Bay where he grew up with other Burke families
and where his father, Owen, built several of the Heron
sloops for local racing. Another time he gave me some
rigging wire for a recyling project I was working on.
Andrew, like all in the Burke families, felt that more
Barbadians from all walks of life should enjoy the beneficial
sport of sailing. His concern for others was
excellently epitomized by the noble part he played in
raising awareness among Barbadians about cancer.
Andrew did a lot for the sport of recreational boating
both at home and abroad. Barbadians and
Eastern Caribbean peoples will always be grateful for
his outstanding contributions. My condolences to his
wife, Sally, and son, Chris.
HAROON DEGIA
Norman Faria reports: Haroon Degia, the operator of
the well-known Dive Shop watersports business next to
the Grand Barbados Hotel on the shores of Carlisle
Bay, Barbados, died suddenly of an apparent heart
attack on April 12th, following a picnic with his family.
He was 44. Haroon was the son of the late Abdulhai
“Paki” Degia who was a pioneer, along with the late
British-born Les and Muriel Wotton, of commercial
scuba diving, waterskiing and coastal cruises for tourists
and locals in the island during the late 1950s and
early 1960s. Haroon began working with his father
while at school and continued with the business up
until he died.
Haroon’s natural friendliness and courteous manner
earned him respect and admiration from the many
repeat clients who came from all over Europe and
North America to dive with him and his staff. I knew
both Paki, an immigrant from India (“Bajans called me
Paki because when I arrived, the Pakistani cricket team
was touring the islands and I looked like them,” he
said) and Haroon for many years. Aside from their valuable
contribution to the Barbados tourism sector, they
were staunch members of the Barbados Cruising Club,
which was an alternative to the once restrictive policies
of the (then Royal) Barbados Yacht Club. Paki had
co-signed my application form to the Cruising Club.
Haroon, born in Sobers Lane, Bridgetown, leaves his
wife of 15 years, Fatima, and three loving daughters.
He will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.
Stolen Yacht Recovered in Belize
The sailing yacht Ishtar, which was chartered from
VPM charters in Le Marin, Martinique on February 28th
and not returned as agreed on March 7th, was found
some 1,600 nautical miles away in Belize on March
30th. The boat had been repainted and the transom
bore a new name: Victoria.
The men aboard, most of whom carry passports
from the Czech Republic, were taken into police custody.
It is reported that three years ago one of them,
Milos Gaspar, 43, stole a Lagoon 410 from
Guadeloupe and that yacht was later recovered in
the Cape Verde Islands. Gaspar is also reportedly
wanted in the US state of Missouri for fraud — i.e. failing
to return a rented RV.
The men had made an official entry into Belize at
Cucumber Beach Marina, just south of Belize City at
17°28.153N, 88°14.775W.
—Continued on next page
HART & STONE